From the March, 1999 Gourmet

I’ve made a lot of Thanksgiving dinners over the years, enough to know the importance of pre-planning and not being overly ambitious with the menu—something I’ve struggled with given my weakness for many of the dishes associated with this favorite meal. Practice has made me pretty good on the planning and strategizing end of things—I now know to cook, chop, shred, slice, and purée as much as possible in advance of the big day—but things have proven more challenging when it comes to determining which dishes will be included; I always seem to over-do it. Of course, part of the traditional Thanksgiving experience is having too much to choose from, and therefore too much on your plate, and I’d be the last one to suggest changing that. But each year I feel as though I could have done with maybe one less dish… or two. Certainly it would help where the time and labor is concerned, and maybe I wouldn’t end the day with a stomach ache! So lately I’ve been giving some thought to where I might trim the lineup, and the one area I keep landing on is dessert. Seriously, does anyone really have room for multiple slices of pie after eating several platefuls of turkey, cranberry sauce, and all those sides?

Okay, the answer from some of you may well be a resounding yes! But for others who feel as I do, a bite or two of a pecan or pumpkin something-or-other may well be all you need to cap off the meal. Which brings me to this week’s posting, for pecan shortbread bars. In concept they’re exactly what I want after an overindulgence of turkey—a concentrated shot of chewy, buttery sweetness that’s gone in two big bites. And, of course, for those of you whose cravings veer to the sweet side of the spectrum, there’s nothing to stop you from grabbing a second or a third bar. Which is, in fact, a risk here, since these little treats are kind of like a Thanksgiving candy bar, if such a thing existed. In other words, they have an addictive quality that makes them hard to stop eating.

The recipe involves two relatively simple steps—preparing the shortbread base, and assembling the pecan topping. If you’ve never had the occasion to make shortbread (I hadn’t) it couldn’t be easier and in this case involves nothing more than placing 1½ sticks of chopped butter (cut into ½-inch pieces) in a food processor along with 2 cups of flour, a ½-cup of packed light brown sugar, and a small amount of salt. All of this is whirred together until the mixture begins to form small clumps and then is turned out onto a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan, where it’s pressed down with the help of a spatula (compacting the mixture is key as it gives the shortbread its signature dense quality). This is then slipped into a 350˚ degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the dough has turned a golden brown. (I ended up giving it an additional five minutes to achieve the desired color.)

While the shortbread is doing its thing in the oven you can address the topping—which is just as simple. There’s the chopping of the nuts in the food processor (a few pulses will do as you want these to be coarsely chopped and not transformed into pecan powder—something that can happen very quickly), and the assembly of the honey/brown sugar mixture, which once baked functions as a chewy vehicle for the nuts. This latter element involves melting the butter in a saucepan, adding the cup of brown sugar, the 1/3-cup honey, and the two tablespoons of heavy cream, then simmering the mixture for a minute until it’s well blended. Once this step is complete, in go those chopped nuts, which are folded into the honey/brown sugar mixture so everything is well coated, with the resulting mixture then spread across the surface of the warm shortbread, using a spoon or spatula to make sure it’s evenly distributed. 20 minutes in a 350˚ oven (the surface should be bubbling) and the confection is ready—though be sure to allow the baked shortbread/pecan mixture an hour to cool completely before slicing it into 24 bars.

I did make one addition to the recipe, in the form of a chocolate drizzle. While the bars are plenty wonderful without it, I figure if I’m going to eat pecans and brown sugar I might as well go for the gusto and do it with a little chocolate. If you feel the same then melt a bar of semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler (break the bar into small pieces first), stir in a few teaspoons of unsalted butter, and once melted drizzle the results across the surface of the baked pecan mixture. (I drizzled horizontally, starting in one corner of the pan and moving towards the opposite, then doing the same from the other side—an approach that resulted in a nice diamond pattern.) And to make sure the chocolate hardens up sufficiently, once the pan is cool to the touch, place it in the freezer for five minutes or so.

Supposedly the bars will keep for five days at room temperature, though I haven’t put this to the test as mine were gone in just twenty-four hours. Whether you include these in your Thanksgiving dessert lineup, or make them for some other occasion (they’d make a great Christmas cookie) I suspect the same will be true for you. The combination of chewy and crunchy with sweet and a little salty is just too good to resist.

Have a great holiday everyone.

And on a side note, many thanks to all of you for your warm wishes regarding our baby news. Two months and counting!…

Ingredients for the pecan bars:
—8 oz. pecans (about 2 cups; TRG note: I increased this by a ½ cup)
—1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
—1 cup packed light brown sugar
—1/3 cup honey
—2 tbs heavy cream
—3.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate (broken into small pieces), plus 2 tsp unsalted butter (both optional)
—Shortbread base (see ingredients and recipe below)

Ingredients for the shortbread base:
—1½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
—2 cups all-purpose flour
—1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
—1/2 tsp salt

Directions for the pecan bars:
—Preheat oven to 350˚.
—In a food processor coarsely chop pecans.
—In a heavy saucepan melt butter and stir in brown sugar, honey, and cream. Simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, 1 minute, and stir in pecans.
—Pour pecan mixture over hot shortbread (see instructions below) and spread evenly. Bake in middle of oven until bubbling, about 20 minutes.
—Cool completely in pan and cut into 24 bars.
—Bars keep, covered, 5 days at room temperature.
—TRG Note: If you want to add a chocolate drizzle to the bars, melt chocolate and butter in the upper portion of a double boiler. With a teaspoon, drizzle baked and cooled bars with the melted chocolate. Place in freezer for about five minutes for chocolate to harden before proceeding with slicing.

Directions for the shortbread:
—Preheat oven to 350˚.
—Cut butter into ½-inch pieces. In a food processor process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps.
—Sprinkle mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan and with a metal spatula press evenly onto bottom. Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes.
—While shortbread is baking, prepare topping.

Makes 24 bars

The post 11/20/13 • SHORTBREAD PECAN BARS appeared first on THE RECIPE GRINDER.

From the Wed., Aug. 21st edition of The New York Times

This past weekend got off to a sweet start with a visit to Briermere Farm in Riverhead, NY, a farm stand on the north fork of Long Island with a well-deserved reputation for turning out some of the East End’s very best pies, as well as for having one of the largest pie selections anywhere. On the day we visited I counted 27 varieties displayed in several large cases, including one case that I estimate to be about 6 feet high and that was filled to the top with different fruit pies. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the experience of standing in front of that many pies, but it can take your breath away… at least it did me. And, not surprisingly, it also made choosing just one pie a difficult process. So after multiple false starts (and some frustration from the growing line of patrons behind us) we finally decided on two: a strawberry pie, and a raspberry cream variety, and at the last minute threw in a still-warm-from-the-oven blueberry muffin and a cinnamon roll for good measure. But Briermere isn’t just about baked goods—they’re also a farm stand in the classic sense, which this time of year means a bounty of locally grown fruits and vegetables to choose from. So in addition to those pies and other goodies, we left laden down with tomatoes, avocados, nectarines (the best I’ve had all summer!), several types of greens, and two pints of figs that, though small (and, it must be said, probably not local), were perfectly ripe and wonderfully sweet.

Under any circumstances those figs were something I would have had a hard time passing up, though the fact that I was haunted by the fig and almond cake recipe I’d seen in The Times a week earlier meant that I was buying with a definite purpose in mind. In other words, despite having already committed to the purchase of two pies, there would also be a freshly baked cake in our weekend lineup. That’s a lot of dessert even by my glutinous standards, but it proved the perfect antidote to a cloudy Labor Day weekend, when neither the sun, nor the rain, ever actually made much of an appearance.

Aside from the pleasure of cooking with figs at the very height of their season, one of the things that appealed to me most about the Times’ cake recipe (which I’ve reproduced for you here) is that it paired the fruit with a batter infused with freshly ground almonds and almond extract. I’m a fan of almonds in almost any form, but in the context of baking, something truly miraculous happens with them, perfuming the various other ingredients with a whiff of the exotic. That’s certainly the case here, though those freshly ground almonds also lend the cake a rustic, crunchy texture that’s a nice counterpoint to the floral character offered by the extract. And all of those qualities offer the perfect counterpoint to the subtle, yet concentrated flavor of the fruit. As such, it makes for a not-too-sweet cake that works as well at breakfast time as it does for a low-key dessert.

It’s a lovely combination of qualities made even more so by the ease with which the cake is assembled. To start you grind a cup of raw almonds with a ¼ cup of sugar in a food processor until it’s coarse and powdery—sort of the consistency of wet sand. To this you add a ¼ cup of all-purpose flour, and small amounts each of baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together three eggs, half a stick of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of honey, and ½ teaspoon of the aforementioned almond extract. Once combined, add this to the almond mixture until just incorporated and pour into a well-buttered pan. All that remains is to stem and slice your figs in half (12 should be sufficient, though if you’re using small sized ones as I did here you’ll need to increase the number to 20 or so), lay them cut side up across the surface of the batter, sprinkle with a few tablespoons of sugar, and slide into a 375˚ oven for thirty minutes. Almost immediately the batter begins to rise around the sliced fruit, with the juice and sugar ultimately combining to create a a shimmering glaze across the golden surface of the finished cake.

As tempting as it is to slice into the cake as soon as it exits the oven, it’s best to allow some time for it to cool down, as it will likely fall apart if you move in too soon. That being said, this is a cake best enjoyed the day it’s made, when the nutty crumb still retains a maximum of moisture. In fact, it’s that damp, grainy texture that’s one of the highlights here. Serve each slice with a dollop of whipped cream if you wish, but in my book this is one of those desserts that’s at its best when allowed to shine all on its own, without any embellishments.

Ingredients:
—4 tbs butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
—1 cup natural raw almonds (not blanched)
—1/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tbs for sprinkling
—1/4 cup all-purpose flour
—1/2 tsp baking powder
—1/8 tsp cinnamon
—1/8 tsp salt
—3 eggs, beaten
—2 tbs honey
—1/2 tsp almond extract
—12 to 14 ripe figs (more if small)

Special equipment:
—A 9-inch fluted tart pan or pie pan.

Directions:
—Heat oven to 375˚.
—Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan or pie pan; set aside.
—Put almonds and ¼ cup sugar in a food processor and grind to a coarse powder. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; pulse to combine.
—In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter, honey, and almond extract. Add almond mixture and beat for a minute until batter is just combined. Pour batter into a pan.
—Remove stem from each fig and cut in half. Arrange fig halves cut-side up over the batter. Sprinkle figs with sugar and bake for 30 minutes, until golden outside and dry at center when probed with a cake tester. Cool before serving.

8 servings

The post 09/03/13 • FIG AND ALMOND CAKE appeared first on THE RECIPE GRINDER.